Library of Congress

The following guest post by Susan Garfinkel, a research specialist in the Researcher and Reference Services Division, is offered in celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month. Sholem Aleichem at his writing desk, Saint Petersburg, 1904. YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. As additional collections are digitized, those of us who keep an......

These ten maps on a single sheet, published in 1918 by the Italian-American News Bureau, call attention to the significance of the port of Fiume to many Italians, besides the hero of our story.  Geography and Map Division.  Italy – Fiume – 1918 – Italian American New Bureau The Croatian......

The following is a guest post by Brooke Biastock, who completed a month-long internship at the Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Center over the Hollins University January 2020 Term. This post is part of our “Literary Treasures” series, which highlights audio and video recordings drawn from the Library’s extensive online......

The following guest post was written by Kaleena Black, educational resources specialist in the Library’s Learning and Innovation Office. Joy Harjo performs with her band during her opening event as the U.S. Poet Laureate at the Library of Congress, September 19, 2019. Photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress. The recent......

This is a guest post by Kathy Hart, Head of the Research Access and Collection Development Section in the Geography and Map Division. Libraries and museums often feature maps and related geographic content in digital and analog, large or small exhibits, displays and workshops. When considering the variety of materials......

The following is a guest post by Mark F. Hall, a research specialist in the Library of Congress’s Researcher and Reference Services Division. Page 26 [detail] of Nature Study: Birds, by Chester A. Reed. Worcester, Mass., C.K. Reed, 1910. From the Internet Archive. From Biodiversity Heritage Library. In this time......

One of my favorite computer games as a child was called The Yukon Trail. Made in 1994, the player became a prospector in the late 19th century Klondike gold rush, navigating the treacherous trail in an attempt to stay alive and strike it rich. What I recently discovered while browsing our map......

The following guest post, part of our “Teacher’s Corner” series, is by Rebecca Newland, a Fairfax County Public Schools Librarian and former Teacher in Residence at the Library of Congress. Pretty guest on board Marconi’s yacht “listens in” on pioneer’s own set, 1922. Prints & Photographs Division. Many of us......

Yesterday was officially the last day of National Poetry Month, but we at the Library celebrate poetry all year round! And we’re excited to announce the final feature in “The Poetry of Home,” our online collaboration with The Washington Post. The series kicked off three Fridays ago by featuring our......

Joy Harjo takes the stage for her opening performance as the 23rd Poet Laureate, September 19, 2019. Photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress. Today, on the last day of National Poetry Month, we are thrilled to report that the Librarian of Congress has appointed Joy Harjo for a second term......

The following guest post was written by Victoria Van Hyning, a senior innovation specialist and community manager for the Library’s By the People crowdsourcing project. On Friday, May 1, at 3 PM ET, the Library of Congress Learning and Innovation Office and By the People crowdsourcing team will partner with......

Many years ago I visited an antique show held at the Washington D.C. Stadium Armory. Dealers from all over the United States displayed almost every kind of antique on tables throughout the market. One of the dealers owned an antique map store in St. Louis. I looked at many maps,......

“We Real Cool,” Gwendolyn Brooks. Broadside Press, poster printed 1966. Rare Book and Special Collections Division. {mediaObjectId:'A14F362CBFF600B2E0538C93F11600B2',metadata:["Gwendolyn Brooks reading her poems with comment in the Recording Laboratory, Jan. 19, 1961"],mediaType:'A',playerSize:'mediumStandard'} When Consultant in Poetry Richard Eberhart invited Gwendolyn Brooks to record her work at the Library in 1961, Brooks was......

This April, through “The Poetry of Home” videos, we have worked to bring our poets laureate to the country virtually. But I wanted to point out another great video launched recently, through our friends at Mass Poetry, to which the Poetry and Literature Center has a special connection! Amanda Gorman......

Today, tune in to the third installment of “The Poetry of Home,” our weekly collaborative video series with The Washington Post, in which 21st Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera reads and discusses his poem “Five Directions to My House.” About his writing process for the poem, Herrera says with his......

The following guest post was written by Barbara Bair, curator of literature, culture and the arts in the Library’s Manuscript Division. This Friday, April 24, Natasha Trethewey will be the third poet laureate featured in “The Poetry of Home,” the new weekly video series from the Library of Congress and the Washington......

Washington, D.C., was established as the “permanent seat of the Federal Government” by the passage of the Residence Act in 1790. This act allowed President George Washington to select the site for the new city anywhere along the banks of the Potomac River between its junction with the Shenandoah River,......

One of the most common questions I receive through the Library’s Ask a Librarian service is how to determine when a specific poem was first published. Often, the person asking the question is trying to establish whether the poem might be in the public domain; other times, the information is......

Robert Pinsky, our ninth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, is the second featured poet in our weekly collaborative video series with The Washington Post, “The Poetry of Home.” Pinsky opens the video, which launched this morning, with a reflection on our current moment: “I think that like, nearly everyone who......

National Poetry Month is at its halfway mark, but we’re still in (virtual) full swing at the Library of Congress, cooking up new ways to bring poetry into your lives and homes. Marianne Moore. Prints & Photographs Division. Of course, our celebration of National Poetry Month wouldn’t be complete without......